How Not to Fall In Love

Chapter 55

I managed to get through my first class without any drama. No one asked me what happened or why I took off with Austin. I was rather shocked that no one had asked me. I figured at least one person would've asked me the dreaded question of why we ran off together. If the situation were reversed, I'd want to know. That was just one class, though. I had the rest of the day to get through. 

"Sunshine, you ready to go to English?" Cole asked, walking up to my locker. 

"Not really." I sighed, closing my locker door. 

"Well, lucky for you, you've got me." He draped his arm over my shoulders. "The real question is...Are you ready to face Taylor?" He raised an eyebrow. 

I'd almost forgotten about her with everything going on the past few weeks. I dropped my shoulders and hung my head while we walked down the hall toward English. What I really wanted to do was turn and run out the door in the opposite direction with Austin. We did that for a few days, and it was heavenly until my father found us. "Don't let me say anything that will get my ass in trouble." I looked up into Cole's warm brown eyes. 

"Anything for you, Sunshine." He squeezed me. He dropped his arm and stepped to the side, letting me walk into English. I was barely in the classroom when everyone stopped talking, and all eyes were on me. "Don't let them bother you," Cole whispered behind me, nudging me to go sit at my desk. I stood there for a second, glancing around at the twenty pairs of eyes glued to me. I wanted to stand there and see if they would follow my every move; then again, I didn't want to know the answer. Taylor and her friends were at the back, staring and whispering. I wanted to say something to them but didn't need the added drama. I repeated that they weren't worth my time or effort and found the courage to walk toward my seat. 

"Rylee, is it true that your dad did that to your eye and lip?" Taylor asked, turning around in her chair.

"Yes. Let me guess...You don't believe it?" I slammed my book down on my desk. 

Her eyes widened. "Uh...I wasn't going to say that at all." She tucked her dark hair behind her left ear. "I'm sorry he did that to you." 

I stood there looking down at her, speechless, wondering who this person was and what she did with the real Taylor Moss. Because the real Taylor would never tell me she was sorry for anything regarding me. She'd probably tell me something like I deserved it or too bad he didn't beat me worse. So, I was having a hard time believing her heartfelt statement. I looked over at Cole to see if I was overreacting to her comment, and I could see the same confusion on his face. I didn't need more drama, so I did the mature thing instead. "Thanks, Taylor." I slid down in my seat. 

Mrs. Hart strolled into class with her famous cup of coffee from Oasis, telling everyone to open their books to where we left off yesterday as she started writing on the board. Cole leaned over and whispered for me to turn to page one hundred and seventy-five. 

"Obviously, some people weren't paying attention in class yesterday." Mrs. Hart turned around and looked right in our direction. "Rylee!" Her eyes lit up, and her annoyed expression quickly disappeared. "I didn't know you were back in school today. See me after class, and we'll talk about catching you up with the rest of the class." She smiled and started talking about the lesson for the day. I opened my book to page one hundred and seventy-five, even though I was utterly lost in what she was talking about. I just wanted to know if Jules was all right. I started taking notes, then scribbled on my paper as my thoughts drifted toward Austin and everything that had happened over the past month. 

"Rylee, are you going to gather up your stuff?" Cole whispered. 

"Huh?" I kept scribbling on my paper.